


At Midnight

by Ljparis



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Carbonite, F/M, Force-Sensitive Leia Organa, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, The Force
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-10 05:19:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13495722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ljparis/pseuds/Ljparis
Summary: I'm sure this is not at all what you had in mind, but it's what came out of me. I hope you enjoy it.Some SW-related notes - this takes place either in the EU or canon-compliant after Return of the Jedi, though you can probably assume it's more EU/AU considering I've placed Han and Leia on Coruscant. The time period is murky, but you can also assume it takes place within a year or two after Return of the Jedi.Also: as this deals with Han's time in Carbonite, there are very brief references to suffocation and pain, perhaps not enough for a warning, but it's there.





	At Midnight

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rainydayadvocate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainydayadvocate/gifts).



> I'm sure this is not at all what you had in mind, but it's what came out of me. I hope you enjoy it.
> 
> Some SW-related notes - this takes place either in the EU or canon-compliant after Return of the Jedi, though you can probably assume it's more EU/AU considering I've placed Han and Leia on Coruscant. The time period is murky, but you can also assume it takes place within a year or two after Return of the Jedi.
> 
> Also: as this deals with Han's time in Carbonite, there are very brief references to suffocation and pain, perhaps not enough for a warning, but it's there.

The nightmare often came without warning, deep in Han's sleep cycle, forcing his body to go rigid, his hands clutched like claws at his sides. Suffocating silence replaced the muted colors and confusing sounds of a dream, the darkness thundering in to cover his unconsciousness. He cried out in his sleep, a low guttural noise that barely sounded human. It filled the room for a moment before he sucked the sound right back in, his mouth snapping closed as though to mimic the loss of breath. 

When it came on him like that, all at once like a sudden downpour, Leia woke up. She stared at the ceiling of the apartment they were staying in on Coruscant, around the block from the Alderaanian consulate, breathing out into the quiet, wondering what woke her up. Then Han stiffened beside her, shuddered, and gasped for breath.

A nightmare, she realized, sitting up and moving away from him. It had been some months since this happened, since the horrifying memories of being encased in carbonite infiltrated his sleep. The last time they were on the Falcon, and the not-so-gently thrum of the engines eventually woke him up. Before that, Leia had tried everything from saying his name to shouting it, to touching his arm, his hand, to shaking him as hard as she could. Nothing worked; Han simply had to get through it and wake up out of the nightmare on his own time.

She hated it, hated feeling helpless in most situations, but especially in this one. 

"Han," she whispered, knowing he wouldn't hear her. 

She touched his shoulder, knowing he wouldn't feel it. 

She breathed out to calm herself, knowing it wouldn't calm him.

Leia had only recently begun working with Luke, mostly exercises in clearing her mind of all its clutter, of meditation, of relaxing her entire self so that she went from feeling overwhelmed to feeling at peace. It wasn't using the Force, she told herself every time she and her brother tucked themselves away in an old open atrium he had claimed for the future of the Jedi Order.

It was meditation, plain and simple. Something that she had been practicing (or at least was supposed to practice) since she was a young girl on Alderaan. No mind tricks about it, though if pressed, Leia might admit that doing it with her twin was more calming and much easier than it had ever been for her before.

As she breathed out, more in an effort to calm the racing of her own heart from its sudden waking due to Han's nightmare, she closed her eyes. Leia's hand slipped from his shoulder to the side of his neck, her fingers against his hair, her thumb at his chin. She felt his pulse under her palm, fast and unsteady. 

He thrashed in the bed beside her, another moan slipping from his lips. But it wasn't the same kind as before, and the stiffness of his body, the tenseness of his shoulders, began to lessen. 

She breathed out in relief herself and opened her eyes to find Han, eyes wide, looking at her.

"Leia," he croaked out. He didn't move, though his chest hitched, rising and falling as he worked to breathe regularly again. "What did you do?"

She shook her head, let her hand begin to slip away from the side of his neck. "Nothing. You were having a nightmare."

Han caught her wrist in his hand, struggled to sit up so he could look at her hand, turning it over to examine her palm, her knuckles, the inside of her wrist. "No," he said. "I mean to wake me up."

Leia shook her head again. "I didn't do anything," she told him.

He had that look on his face, the one where it was clear he didn't believe a word out of her mouth. Even now, in bed, just awake from a paralyzing nightmare, his expression said he thought she was lying. "Leia," he said firmly. His fingers squeezed hers as she pulled her hand away from his grip and sat up, hair in a long braid spilling over her shoulder. "You didn't use any of that Jedi stuff on me, did you?"

She couldn't tell from his tone if the idea of her doing so bothered him or not. "Would it matter if I did?"

His gaze met hers and held there for a long moment before he looked away. "I don't know," he finally said.

Leia pressed her fingers together over her lap and looked down. "I did nothing intentionally, Han," she whispered, worry lacing her tone. "I hurt when you hurt," she told him, "and I know how badly these nightmares mess you up. I was actually trying to calm myself down from being awoken so suddenly. I guess … " she trailed off, wringing her hands together. "Maybe some of that was transferred over to you."

Han breathed out heavily through his nose and pushed his fingers back through his hair. "I've never come out of one of those so quickly," he admitted. He seemed to hesitate with what to say next. "I never know that they're dreams. They're not, not really - memories, more like - but this time I didn't feel trapped." Trapped wasn't even the best word to describe the horrible memory of being completely encased in carbonite like that, but it was something at least. "I don't know what you did, but I could come out of it on my own instead of waitin' for it to be all over."

Her breath caught in her throat. "That's good, isn't it?"

"Yeah, princess," he rumbled, "that's good." Still, that edge to his tone told her he wasn't one hundred percent comfortable with whatever Force-related stuff had just happened. He reached for her hand and squeezed hers. "Just somethin' different. Unexpected."

Leia nodded and then laid back down, curling into him as he moved his arms comfortably around her. "As long as you're not mad at me."

He pushed her hair off of her neck and kissed her bare shoulder. "'M not mad at you, princess," he murmured. "Not at all."

She smiled to herself as she settled against him and closed her eyes, trying to put both his nightmare and whatever she did with the Force to get him through it out of her mind. It didn't matter if she used the Force to help him or if it was coincidence. What mattered is that the nightmare didn't do any damage that night. 

Leia focused on Han, on his warmth, his steady breathing, and the feel of his scruffy cheek against the back of her neck. She felt him fall asleep first and then followed soon after herself.


End file.
